I presented my anatomy lecture of 10-15 minutes yesterday -- in the end, I went with a project that focused largely on hemangiomas while taking quick looks at enopthalmos (the eye physically sinking back into the head) and Asian blepharoplasty (artifically turning an Oriental "slit eye" into an Occidental "double eyelid" eye). I worked on it for 6 hours (from 8pm until 2am with only a small break somewhere in there because the library closes at 12midnight so you have to vacate the premises only to break back in with your swipe card because you're just that awesome). In the end, I didn't get a chance to practice and was very tired the day of the presentation, but the result was the same as when I presented my MELAS presentation for molecular bio:
"Ryan, that was fantastic! You should totally become a professor!"
Everybody seems to think that I have a natural knack for teaching. Maybe that's true. And I certainly take that as a compliment -- to be compared in any sense to the great Socrates or Aristotle is more than I could ask for, that wonderful role in our society of "he who imparts knowledge unto others." Still, I didn't come to medical school to fail out and become a teacher -- I came to medical school to succeed in my quest for medical knowledge and to become the best doctor I can be. So I can't help but be a little ambivalent about this praise, about this argument that I should reconsider my career choice. I know it's supposed to be a compliment from my peers, but ... *sigh*
I don't know my grade yet, but my understanding is that most students get an auto-A, so we'll see. The professor didn't suggest anything was bad about it, but he didn't really talk about it either all through lab (11am-1pm).
Oh ... just in case the title is unclear (as I realize you're not all mindreaders), I'm suggesting that this praise is vindication that I am not an idiot and that I am a good, successful young man; but that it could also be further condemnation about my dream of becoming a doctor, as anatomy currently presents the greatest hurdle.
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2 comments:
They say that those who can't do, teach. But I feel that you certainly can do. Don't ever become a professor!
That actually sounds like a really sage saying for explaining why so many of the great warriors in literature go on to become teachers/mentors of the main character in the story, e.g. Yoda's and Obi-Wan's relationship with Luke, Merlin's relationship with Arthur, Hopkins-Zorro's relationship with Banderas-Zorro, etc.
Then again, I think there are plenty of great professors/mentors/teachers who go into it not because they failed to "do", but because they are "doing" as teachers, e.g. Great Teacher Onizuka or Morgan Freeman in Lean On Me.
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